Platforms that include various sensors for monitoring various aspects of a physical area are utilized in a variety of industries and applications. Such platforms can be located in water, suspended in the air (e.g., using a balloon), located in space, or located on land. Illustrative industries and applications for water-based platforms include, but are not limited to: oceanography (e.g., research), port operations, river management, offshore oil and gas exploration and production, environmental monitoring and protection, ocean energy devices (wave and tidal), offshore wind farm monitoring, weather stations, aquaculture, marine biology, water quality, navigational aids, monitoring buoys, research platforms, mineral extraction (e.g., ocean mining), drilling platforms, etc.
Frequently, such platforms are temporarily or permanently located in an area without any type of propulsion system. For example, water-based platforms can be located using undersea anchor(s), sinker(s) and tether(s), and/or the like. Additionally, such platforms also are commonly left unattended, perform their desired operations autonomously or semi-autonomously, and report data to remote locations. Still further, a platform can be self-powered, e.g., using batteries that can be charged by various ambient energy sources, such as photovoltaic solar panels, wind-driven generators, water (e.g., current or flow) driven generators, and/or the like.
A platform can become unsecured. In this case, the platform may stray from the physical area, e.g., due to currents, wind, drift, and/or the like. Such movement can present a risk to the platform and the safety of vehicles/vessels moving in the surrounding area, other assets located in the surrounding area, public safety, and/or the like.